


Worlds Apart

by Llamauthentic



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: (Platonically Speaking), Alternate Universe - Horrortale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Swapfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Big Brothers, F/F, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hate to Love, Hijinks & Shenanigans, I love sweet bby characters :3, I'll try to get chapters up as soon as I can, LOts of cinnamon roll characters, Sans is trying, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, everyone is trying, post when i can
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28773711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llamauthentic/pseuds/Llamauthentic
Summary: In a world where Humans never trapped Monsters underneath Ebott Mountain, tensions are still high between the two races, with distrust and hatred brewing just below the surface.Follow Sam, a young girl who is doing her best to make it through life, dealing with normal teenage stuff such as popularity, hearing voices, highschool, and trying to find a way to help eight skeleton monsters who were ripped from their timelines get home.It'll be tough, but with her two boney guardians Sans and Papyrus by her side, she's sure she can do it.... If the eight new skeletons don't kill her first.
Relationships: Alphys/Undyne (Undertale)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 8





	1. Wake Up Call

It was dark.

Darker, yet darker.

And so cold.

So, so cold. It was numbing, frigid, and biting. It tore through the beings body they didn’t even feel they had anymore, and yet...

The pain. Dear god, the pain was unbearable. Ripping and tearing. Burning and melting. Their very existence was being torn apart, steadily, particle by particle, until the only thing they could feel was the unceasing thrum of agony pulsing through their soul like a heartbeat. 

There was no hope, there would be no Mercy from this hell.

They would remain in the blackness. Forever trapped in this void of unceasing torment. 

  
  


...

A flicker of light. Just one moment, but it was enough. Enough to feel the warmth that it held, to bask in it. How long had it been, since they had felt such comfort? Time was irrelevant here in this place that was not a place, the being knew that, and yet, they felt that it had been far too long.

Slowly, without thinking, they gravitated towards it. 

This feeling. They wanted it to stay. Needed it to stay.

The light seemed to agree, flickering in earnest as the entity drifted closer. As if, it too had been lost in the darkness, awash in a sea of pain, drowning under the depths of the nothingness, and longed so dearly for the comfort of another.

  
  


_ “Hi,” _ it seemed to say, with all the warm, childlike innocence of one who so clearly didn’t belong here.  _ “What’s your name?” _

This light. This warm, kind presence they were feeling. It was young, they could see that now. A small glimmer of hope in this hellscape devoid of light and life. New to the world, but already starving for the touch of another, just as they were.

The being answered without thinking. Wanting so badly to solidify this one thought. To prove to one other entity that they were still here. They were still  Determined to survive.

_ “Hello, young one. My name is-” _

  
  
  


“SAM, IT IS SEVEN IN THE MORNING, GET UP, YOU LAZY BONES!” 

The door to a small bedroom was kicked open with a bang, causing the poor battered wood to creak and shutter under the impact. 

The resulting noise was also enough to startle the pre-teen girl that lay there in fitful sleep out of her comfy sheets, and right into her unforgiving bedside table. She fell to the floor with a thump, clutching the front of her head, which, unfortunately, had been the thing to cushion her fall.

Light flooded into the room with the flick of a switch, and heavy footsteps shook the ground as Sam rubbed her sore spot, wincing from the sudden pain and bright lights. She braced herself with her free hand, sitting up against her bed while shooting a glare up at the towering figure that now stood directly in front of her, arms at his hips.

“NOW, NOW,” Papyrus chided as he bent down, hooking his gloved hands under her armpits, ignoring the squawks of indignation that tore through the bedraggled girl as he righted her. “DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT! IT MAY BE A SUNDAY, BUT THAT IS NO EXCUSE TO LAZE ABOUT!”

Sam stared up at the tall skeleton with a small, exasperated smile on her face, her anger at being woken up in such a ridiculous fashion drained away as she took in his glowing smile, and the way he bounced eagerly on the balls of his...feet?  _ “He’s not usually this loud,” _ She thought to herself as he beamed at her like he hadn’t just nearly shattered her door. _ “He must be really excited about his speech today.” _

“Mornin’ to you too, Papy,” Sam mumbled, voice slightly rough with sleep. She yawned, running a few fingers through her dark, bedraggled hair, before falling into the loud skeleton's arms for their customary good morning hug. Papyrus returned the gesture, spinning her around with his usual flourish, and all but crushing her to his chest with a small chuckle.

Sam’s friends had once asked her what it was like to hug a skeleton, and they were surprised to hear that it actually wasn’t too different from hugging a human. Skeleton monsters didn’t have any skin, so one would expect to feel really uncomfortable having all of those sharp bone bits poking out at them, but that was the beauty of magic, it made everything just a bit better. 

For skeletons, Sam had explained to them, a light, invisible coating of magic surrounded the surface of their body, acting as a sort of cushion between them and the rest of the world.

It was actually a pretty cool experience, Sam mused as she clung tighter to her boney guardian. His magic seemed to crackle under her touch, giving slightly in the simulation of real human skin. It felt a bit like a balloon would after you had rubbed it through your hair. 

“You know,” Sam said, voice muffled against Papyrus's shirt, which read, in a cacophony of different colors ‘ _ Motivation Boy’ _

“I’m actually glad you woke me up. I think I was having a really weird dream.”

Papyrus's death squeeze eased up just a bit. Huffing, he set her down and sat a gloved hand over her shoulder as his eyes, or eyelights rather, combed her face, searching for… something.

“ANOTHER NIGHTMARE?” He asked in an uncharacteristically serious tone. Sam smiled. Underneath all of Papyrus’s showmanship and grandiose, he really was the most caring person she had ever met. 

“No,” The brunette shook her head, wanting to ease his worries. “it was just,” Sam paused, brow wrinkling as she tried to come up with a fitting description for how the dream had felt. “Weird.” she settled on. “Not scary. But I don’t remember anything about this one either.”

Papyrus sighed and straightened to his full height, which was considerable, and placed a red-gloved hand on his chin in thought.

“HMM. THIS IS A PREDICAMENT.” He said, sounding less concerned now, and more like he did whenever he was excited about a new puzzle that had caught his eye. “A GROWING HUMAN SUCH AS YOURSELF NEEDS HER SLEEP IF SHE IS EVER GOING TO HAVE A HOPE OF MEASURING UP TO THE GREATNESS THAT IS PAPYRUS!”

Sam nodded. She really did want to be like Papyrus when she grew up. He was just so…  _ cool _ .

“I HAVE DECIDED!” Paps shouted, raising a gloved finger to the sky. “AFTER MY SPEECH TODAY, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL DO ALL THAT HE CAN TO HELP REMEDY YOUR SLEEPING SITUATION!” Sam felt her heart swell. Just for that, Papyrus got an extra hug. She really did love the big goof more than she could handle.

“NYEH HEH,” A light orange blush dusted the now bashful skeleton's cheeks as he chuckled. “YES, WELL, THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS NOTHING IF NOT KIND AND MERCIFUL!” Sam felt a hand come down to pat her head and reveled in the comfort the gesture brought.

“NYEH!” Papyrus shouted in surprise, looking down at his watch in horror. Darn, he must have seen the time.

“IT’S SEVEN THIRTY, I’M ALMOST LATE FOR BEING EARLY!” With that and a quick boney kiss to the head, the skeleton fled from the room, leaving just as suddenly as he had come, and taking his comforting warmth with him.

“GOODBYE HUMAN, THERE IS BREAKFAST IN THE KITCHEN,” Papyrus’s voice rang out from downstairs, making quite a racket as he raced to get to the front door. “AND GET SANS UP, WILL YOU? THAT LAZY BONES HAS SLEPT IN FOR THE LAST TIME!” The front door was slammed open, and then clicked quietly closed, signaling his exit from the house.

Sam chuckled.  _ I highly doubt that _ , she thought, flopping back into bed. Surely ten more minutes of sleep would be okay, right? Too late, her eyes were already closed as she burrowed deeper into the plush comforter. 

She had barely been able to settle back down when, without warning, her traitor of a brain shifted its focus onto the latest reason her sleep schedule had been a wreck recently.

It had been just like all the others she’d been having over the last few weeks, usually ending with a scream of terror, and no recollection of ever even having the nightmare. The frantic beating of her heart was the only physical evidence that it had ever haunted her at all.

Except, this time, everything had been slightly off. This one had been a different experience altogether. There was fear, yes. But there was also sadness, a deep, bone-chilling sadness, and the terrible feeling of loss, like something important had just been wrenched from her grasp. Not a great improvement over the ones she had already been having, but something still stood out, it was faint but still odd enough for her to take notice of the sensation.

A small spark of… relief. That's what she had felt as clear as day among all of the other emotions reeling through her mind. That wasn’t a feeling you experienced when you were having a scary dream, was it? Could it have been her own relief, from having been woken up?

Sam groaned, frustrated at her lack of answers, and dug the heels of her hands into her eyes, trying to focus on the pain the action brought. She could already feel the beginnings of a headache brewing with all of this soul-searching biz. She needed sleep, not more annoying body issues.

With yet another groan, she pulled herself up and away from the heavenly poof that was her bed and shambled into the bathroom, snatching her glasses off her bedside table on the way. Running the faucet, and not bothering to let it warm up, she splashed the freezing water over her face in an effort to ward away the exhaustion that seemed to hang over her lately like a stubborn raincloud. 

“Right then,” She said, ignoring the heavy bags that sagged under her eyes as she smiled into the mirror. “It’s time to greet the day!”

❇❇❇

To Sam, routines were a necessary part of life. They were things she loved, the familiar monotony of folding clothes or doing dishes, it was calming, and simple enough to let her mind wander to more important thoughts.

That was one thing Sam did not want today. The name of the game this morning was to do everything she possibly could to get her mind off of the twisty feeling in her gut that had stubbornly refused to go away since she had woken up.

She dug through her closet, putting all of her mental efforts into finding the perfect outfit to wear today.

It was a beautiful day outside, it would have to be, for Papyrus to have chosen it to be the morning he held his first-ever outdoors motivational speaker gig.

Sam could practically hear his voice, sounding slightly insulted when she asked why he didn’t just do it during one of the more ‘okay’ days.  _ “THE GREAT PAPYRUS DOES NOT SETTLE FOR ‘OKAY’ WEATHER! I SHALL WAIT UNTIL THE SUN SHINES BRILLIANTLY DOWN UPON MY VISAGE, THAT WILL SURELY INSPIRE THE POOR WAYWARD SOULS WHO COME TO ME FOR GUIDANCE!” _

That little thought had set Papy back for weeks. After all, you were hard-pressed to find a sunny day in Ebott City in the middle of fall. But Sam had to give him credit, he had actually managed to schedule his pep-talk on the nicest day she had seen in weeks. 

One look through her bedroom window told Sam that today was a good day to be alive. The mountains that lined the city were silhouetted against the pale blue sky, and a gentle breeze was running pleasantly through the trees in the backyard.

_ So, a sunny day with a bit of a chill,  _ Sam mused as she flicked through the clothes hung neatly in her closet.  _ Guess going casual won’t hurt, it’s a Sunday after all. _

__ She hummed as she plucked out a black faded tee, the white writing on it making her chuckle as she shucked off her pj’s. Now donning the shirt, which read: ‘ **I Found this Humerus** ’ with a picture of a bone underlining the phrase, she pulled on a random pair of jeans and exited her room, starting yet another morning trek down the lengthy staircase, where there was food just waiting to be devoured.

Skipping down the stairs, Sam wondered for what could have been the thousandth time why their house was so big. She was thankful of course, and knew how lucky she was to have what she did, but curiosity was her fatal flaw. Why would three people need so much space? There were six bedrooms here in the main house alone. Some held single full beds, while others held two of a smaller size. And that wasn’t even counting the two extra bedrooms in the small guest house that lay in their wide expanse of a backyard, or the copious amounts of couches they seemed to have.

Sam had once voiced her burning question to Sans, Papyrus's ever laidback brother, and the person responsible for giving her the life she had. 

“guess being friends with the queen of all monsters has its perks, huh?” It hadn’t been a very satisfying answer, but Sam supposed it made sense. To someone as rich as the queen was, gifting a mansion to some friends would have been as big a deal to her as it was for someone else to buy a friend a scented candle.

Queen Toriel, or Aunt Tori, as Sam had called her all her life, was the most generous soul she had ever met. Papyrus had told Sam stories of how she had helped the two brothers in taking care of her when she was very small. 

“sure saved our butts.” Sans had chuckled when he overheard his brother retelling the story.

Sam smiled at the memory, letting out a victory laugh as she bounded down the final step of the unnecessarily long staircase.

Skipping into the ornate kitchen, she was greeted with the smell of freshly cooked eggs, bacon, and glorious, life-giving pancakes. 

Sam gaped at the stacks, reveling in the fluffy beauty of them all, before plunking herself down in her chair, ready to inhale the food. 

Suddenly, Papyrus’s request flooded into her mind before she could take a single bite. Her eyes drifted towards the staircase. As much as she didn’t want to disturb Sans while he slept, Papyrus had specifically asked her to get him up, and after he had made all of this amazing food, it was the least she could do.

But that didn’t stop her from feeling bad about it. There was a reason why Sans took so many naps throughout the day. It was obvious the guy didn’t get enough sleep at night, something that Sam found herself relating to more and more lately. Though, if she thought she was tired after just a few weeks of bad sleep, she couldn’t imagine how Sans felt. He never said anything, but all her life, Sam could tell that something was off with him, she didn’t know how, it had just always been in the back of her mind to know that something was bothering him.

But knowing what exactly was another problem altogether.

Sam sighed into her untouched food, slowly gathering her will-power for another trek up the formidable staircase when she heard a chuckle ring out just to the right of where she sat.

She had long grown used to Sans’s unusual habit of coming and going from place to place without taking a step, but on slow days like these, when her guard was low, sometimes the shock of a sudden presence in a previously empty room got to her.

Sam leaped from her chair with an undignified squeak. Falling - thankfully on her butt this time - to the floor with a crash.

A deep laugh echoed through the kitchen as Sam felt her face flush, rubbing at her rear she stood up, glaring at the offending skeleton.

Her second guardian was short, for a monster, which meant he was about a head taller than herself, who wasn’t exactly a physical specimen when it came to height either.

He chuckled again, throwing his signature wink her way as he turned back towards his food. 

“eh, sorry kid, just couldn’t help myself. you were giving those stairs the ol’ death glare again.”

Sam smirked, anger at being startled to the floor for the second time this morning already abated. Staying mad at those two boneheads for long was impossible. Well, for her, holding a grudge against anyone for long was impossible. Eh, semantics, semantics.

“You’re up early, I’m shocked.” Sam gibed with a teasing smile. Though in all honesty, she really was surprised: and a bit relieved, to know she wouldn’t have to shake him awake today. 

“what?” Sans put a hand to his chest in mock surprise, “can’t a guy wake up at a decent hour without someone  _ ribbing  _ on him?”

Sam scoffed at the pun, shoveling pancake into her mouth to hide her growing smile. She may have forgiven him for the scare, but humoring him and his dumb puns were off the table for at least another hour.

“aww, c’mon kid, i know you’re diggin’ this, i can feel it in my bones.” This skeleton was really tickling her funny-bone. Darn it, no! Resist the temptation.

An eye roll and another mouth full of food. She would not give in to his puns, not this early in the morning.

“No, but really, what are  _ you _ of all people doing up at eight a.m?”

Sans shrugged, reaching over the table to grab the bottle of ketchup she had been eyeing for her eggs, downing it in one gulp.

“eh, i got some work i need to do.”

“In that dumb creepy shed of yours?”

Sans snapped his boney fingers. “that’s the one.”

Sam groaned. She had been trying for years to get Sans to grant her access to his elusive workshop, or at least tell her what he did holed up in there all day, but she had soon come to learn that Sans the Skeleton was  _ not _ a pushover when it came to that little shed in the backyard.

Puppy eyes, tears, pleas, bargains. Every trick in the manipulation handbook. None of it put so much as a dent in his unshakable will.

Entering the workshop out back remained forbidden. 

Not even Papyrus was allowed in there. Sam had thought that he of all people would be wise to what was going on behind that stupid wooden door, but when asked, he claimed he wasn’t even curious. Saying that even thinking about it gave him a migraine. 

The only thing she hadn’t tried was directly disobeying Sans’s rule. The very thought made her stomach churn. No matter how curious she was, to Sam, breaking the trust others had placed in her, disappointing and hurting them. It was a fate worse than death. 

But that didn’t mean she didn’t daydream about it, on occasion.

❇❇❇

  
  


Breakfast was eaten in relative silence. Neither party brought up the glaring issue between the two of them as Sam picked at her food with less gusto than usual. She knew that she was fighting a losing battle, but something in that shed just seemed to call to her. And she was determined to find out what it was.

A chair screeched noisily as it was dragged across the wooden floor. “welp, it's been fun kiddo, but i’ve gotta run, call if you need anything.” The smell of burning wires and chlorine permeated through the air, as it always did when Sans readied his magic for teleportation.

“c’ya” 

Then, with a wink and a mock two-fingered salute, the skeleton was gone in a flash of blue, leaving Sam alone to stew in her own thoughts again.

“This won’t do.” She spoke into the eerily quiet kitchen. “Time for a walk.”

Five minutes later, her shoes were laced and a text was shot to Sans. Then she was out the door.

Like all good cities, Ebott’s had a park, and a fine one at that. It was a beautiful little oasis in the center of all the hustle and bustle that the masses produced, and Sam found herself going there more often as her nightmares worsened.

One of her earliest memories is of going to the park with the brothers. The sun on her skin, the dewy grass on her bare feet, and the odd feeling of magic dancing across her palm as Papyrus held her chubby hand, leading the way to the play structures, with Sans conked out on a bench nearby.

She could still feel the push and pull of those swings. Swaying back and forth as her cheery, high pitched giggles rang out through the playground. Slowly, without even realizing it, Sam began swaying through her walk, lost to old memories. So lost she barely noticed as she entered the park, her feet automatically taking her to the exact spot in her mind's eye.

She sat down on the swing with a sigh, feeling her shoulders slump as the tension seemed to melt away from them. Here, slowly rocking in the breeze, with the sun beaming across her face, Sam felt at peace.

❇❇❇

Sans snorted as his eyelights flitted over the text Sam had sent him. 

_ Have fun with your work, hope it's a ‘walk in the park’ _

It was her little way of telling him that she was going somewhere. And hell if it didn’t make him feel just a glimmer of pride. 

Sans sighed as he leaned back in his chair. Eyeing the dust and empty bottles of ketchup that littered the interior of his workshop. Eh, he would clean up later. Maybe… 

Nah.

He turned to the framed picture he had set on his desk. It was of him, Pap, and little baby Sam outside of Ebott City courthouse, right after she had been officially adopted into the family. A similar picture hung in Papyrus’s room.

Sans could remember everything about that nerve-wracking day like it had happened yesterday.

Thinking back further, Sans could still recall the moment he had first found Sam.

The memory still put a sour taste in his mouth.

Most shrugged off his rescue of the little girl as mere chance. Others called it ‘fate’. That it was ‘destined to happen’. And Sans would be inclined to agree with them, if not for the odd circumstances that surrounded the fateful night.

Sans had been strolling along in the pouring rain, on his way back from a late-night booze trip at Grillby’s and feeling far too drunk to teleport home when he heard it. It was as if the static from one of those old tube TVs had made its home directly inside his skull. So loud it drowned out the roar of the rain and verged on painful. 

In his drunken, bumbling state, Sans had stumbled about on the wet sidewalk, clutching his skull in an effort to quell the sudden noise. Through his alcohol-induced haze, he numbly noted that when he shuffled in a certain direction, the noise would soften. 

And so, like a dog sniffing out a treat, Sans wobbled in the direction that eased his pain, stopping when he found the noise beginning to grow louder again, and realigning himself on the path that would calm the static. 

He still isn't sure for how long he stumbled about, or how many twists and turns he took through the dark and stormy streets and back alleys, but when he stepped into a dirty alleyway decorated with litter courtesy of an overflowing dumpster, the noise ceased, and he found he could think again.

  
  


Before he could so much as attempt to make a guess at what in Asgore's name had just happened, he heard another strange noise. So much softer than the angry hissing that had tumbled over in his non-existent ears, and far more worrying. 

A tiny, broken cry chimed out, just loud enough to be heard over the clatter of rainfall. Sans zeroed in on the sound, which seemed to be coming from behind the dumpster. He took wary steps towards it, crouching down and craning his cervical vertebrae to better see the cause of the distressing wail. 

The sight of what laid before him was enough to sober him up instantly. 

There, bundled loosely in a ratty pink blanket, was a small human child, slumped weakly against the backside of the foul-smelling trash receptacle. They couldn’t have been more than two years old, and Sans was fairly sure that they were female if the long locks of hair and blanket were anything to go by. 

He could still remember the panic he had felt at that moment, with a million questions battering around the inside of his skull.

Where had she come from?

Was she okay?

Is she lost?

Had someone left her here?

The last thought filled Sans with as much disgust today as it had the day he had brought her home.

Before he could even register what was happening, he was scooping her up, blanket and all, and teleporting to the best healer he knew. 

Paps had been surprised at first, obviously, when Sans had suddenly appeared in his room, soaked to the bone and carrying a tiny whimpering bundle in his arms. He remembered the way Paps had immediately snapped into action, not wasting time on questions and getting right to work.

Sans knew that hypothermia was a deadly threat to humans. But seeing it up close was even more terrifying than it was made out to be. 

Her skin that wasn’t being obscured by a tattered, dirty nightgown was deathly pale, he had noted as he peered over his brother's shoulder, and she looked completely drained of color, except for the mop of ratty brown hair that clung lifelessly to her scalp, and the light dusting of blue on her lips and fingers. 

Sans felt his non-existent stomach churn at the memory, but he bit back his urge to gag, just as he had all the other times he had pondered it, as he continuously rolled that fateful night's events over in his mind.

He had been led to Sam, that much Sans knew, but by who? And for what reason? The answers continued to elude him.

  
  


Sans shook his skull. Now was not the time to be distracted by things that may not even have a clear answer. He had to be one hundred percent focused for what was to come.

He sauntered to the back of his workshop, standing in front of the large machine that had been the source of all his problems over the last twelve years. Today, it would be the answer to them.

Sans could hardly keep his hands from shaking as he twisted and fiddled with the knobs on the face of the device.

As soon as Sans had finally,  _ finally _ , screwed the last bolt back in place, the thing had been up and running. Combing across time and space in search of the magic signature that matched with the one in its files. 

Last night it had spit out four different sets of code. It was the road map that would lead Sans to the end of his decade long quest. It was finally time.

Sans imputed the mess of numbers and letters, trusting the machine would be able to make sense of it all.

His hand hovered over the button that would run the program, the thing that was sure to bring back what had been lost.

Sans let out a shuddering breath, setting his shoulders in defiance of his fear and uncertainty.

“alright, geezer. let's bring you home.”

No sooner than when Sans hand had slammed down on the command button did the room begin to glow, and fill with a spine crushing sort of pressure. The blinding light filled his vision until it was all he could see, even with his eye sockets shut so tight he feared they might tear. 

Sans felt his knees buckle under the force of the artificial gravity pouring into the room, and he crashed painfully to the ground. The light and pressure continued to grow, as the room began to fill with low swooping whirs and whistles so loud he could feel his teeth rattling in his skull. 

He gripped onto his desk for dear life, blue jacket whipping around in the crazed wind as the pressure began to collapse in on itself and back into the machine, taking everything that wasn’t nailed down with it. Including himself.

As he was thrown towards the machine, sailing through the air like a ragdoll, he took a moment to internally laugh at how familiar the situation felt.

He didn’t have time to make another coherent thought as the force dragging him towards his inevitable doom suddenly exploded outwards, shattering the bullet-proof windows he had helped install, and once again tossing Sans through the air, this time right into the door of his shop.

His vision went black for a moment as he felt himself slump to the floor. The cold tile felt soothing against his pounding head. His body felt unresponsive at the moment, but his mind was reeling with questions that needed answers.

Had it worked? Sans couldn’t tell. He groaned, slowly easing his body off the floor, clutching the back of his chair - which had remarkably stayed in place - for balance. Blinking away the fuzziness in his vision, he whipped his head around towards the Arc, the thing that had nearly killed him and destroyed his lab.

The whole process had taken no more than ten seconds before the core had overheated and destabilized, but it was enough.

Taking a look around his workshop, Sans noted with a concerning amount of apathy that, yes, his machine had worked in the way it was supposed to. Namely isolating magic from other space-times and pulling it into this world. The only problem was that it seemed to have isolated the wrong magic, and pulled through the wrong monster, or monsters, if he was being accurate.

In other words, he had failed. The Arc had once again been rendered unusable, and the results of his failure were now beginning to stir. Eight different monsters, four pairs of two, and all from different universes began to pick themselves up, rubbing assorted body parts as they looked around the room in a daze. Some looked angry, others scared. But confusion was the one emotion present on all faces as their focus locked on one another, and then on Sans.

All of the calculations he had memorized were buzzing through his mind as he tried to figure out how this had all gone so wrong. But only two words came out of his mouth as all eight pairs of eyelights locked onto him, as if they somehow knew it was him who was the cause of whatever the hell had happened to them.

“well. shit.”


	2. Hello, World!

Worlds Apart Chapter Two

_ Faster!  _ Sam forced her burning legs into an all-out sprint as the scenery around her became little more than a blur. That feeling. That feeling. That horrible feeling in her chest thrum, thrum, thrummed in time with her quickening steps.

_ The pain had come to her as she was scrolling through a compilation of cute animal videos on her phone. She had migrated over to a park bench to give some of the smaller kids a chance to play on the swings, smiling at the thought of all the memories they were sure to be making. _

_ The peace had lasted all of an hour and a half before the static came like a bolt from the blue. It was a ceaseless assault against her eardrums and wasted no time in drilling inside her head. It felt like her brain was being shaved down with sandpaper.  _

_ Sam had to fight the urge to drop to the ground in agony as she clutched her head, curling in on herself. Her glasses threatened to slip off her nose as she hunched over, barely managing to contain the stinging bile that had forced its way up her throat. _

_ She could barely think through the fog of pain that was clawing through her mind, but she gripped her phone tighter, willing herself to blink back the reflexive tears that had gathered at the corner of her eyes.  _

_ Clearly there was something very wrong with her, this wasn’t like any migraine she had experienced before. Sans’s passing comment flitted through her mind, before being washed away by the tidal wave of noise in her head. _

_ “call me if you need anything.” _

_ Sam needed him. Or anyone with a familiar face to help quell the fear tightening like a noose around her neck. Her hand shook as she searched for his number through a blur of tears. She groaned as the pain in her skull crescendoed, causing her to lose her grip on her phone.  _

_ She watched numbly as it tumbled out of her grasp, and shattered onto the pavement below. Papyrus’s helpful advice about getting a phone case seemed to mock her now as she stared down at the mangled piece of technology. She tore her eyes away from the sight, there were more pressing matters to deal with right now. _

_ Like finding out exactly what is going on with me. _

_ No sooner than when she had expressed that thought, did a different kind of pain erupt through her body. Though this time it was in the one place she hoped to never feel such a thing again. _

_ Her soul pulsed in agony, this time successfully bringing her down to her knees as she cried out. It felt as if it was being pulled in all different directions, ready to shatter apart at a moment’s notice. _

Riding on the heels of her physical torment came one other problem.

Sam clenched her eyes shut as another barrage of images shot through her mind.

_ “Just focus. Just focus.” _

It had become her mantra as she sprinted through streets and plaza, the words centered her against the overwhelming amount of jumbled thoughts and images that were being dumped into her brain. 

The first image that had broken into her mind pictured the one place that she was barred from stepping foot into.

The second showed Sans in that very same shed, lying limply on the floor. 

Many others after that had danced through her mind of their own volition. But it was that single frame that had pushed Sam to her feet, launching her off in the direction of home like an Olympic champion at the start gun.

_ Faster!  _ Her mind screamed again, and her body responded, fueling the fire in her muscles, allowing her to push past her limit, speeding up once more.

Sam nearly tripped and ate dirt as she crested the final hill. Her house, and more importantly, Sans, were a stone's throw away now.

As hard as she tried to stop the flood of images from shooting through her brain, wrenching open the doors to the backyard was like pulling the lever on a floodgate.

Light

Machine

Floor

Ceiling

Slippers

Hand

_ Sans _

It was enough to knock her backward, breaking the fall with her elbows. She didn’t even feel it as she fought to catch her breath. That last image was enough to get her to slow down for a second. She needed to think things out instead of just rushing headlong into trouble. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply through her nose before letting it all out through her mouth as she tried to remember what Undyne was always telling her.  _ “Don’t be an idiot, punk. Thinking might save your life one day!” _

A shout came from the backyard. Screw it, she could think things out later when she knew Sans was safe.

Sam leaped up, shoving through the gateway at a sprint, and didn’t stop until she was mere meters away from the old wooden building that had taken center stage in many of her childhood dreams.

The exterior of Sans’s workshop had always been unusually tidy, with its crisp spruce finish, in heavy contrast with the cute little bright oak doors that just looked so inviting. And the stained glass windows which were now… scattered in pieces all over the lush grass. They glinted like deadly dewdrops in the sun. 

A sudden gruff voice dragged Sam’s attention back to the matter at hand. Those voices, that was the sound of people who were not Sans in Sans’s workshop. That was unacceptable.

Edging closer to the nearest shattered window, Sam strained on her tippy toes in a sad attempt to get a glimpse inside. Nothing. Curse her tiny legs, and curse Sans’s unnecessarily high placed windows. 

Well, at least she had full opportunity to eavesdrop on what exactly they were doing in there without them being able to see her.

She would do everything in her power to help Sans, and as these were obviously intruders that he had no idea about, she would listen in on their evil plan and report back to hi-

“i told you, i don’t know what happened. i was running an experiment and it went wrong on me!”

Sans deep baritone filtered out from the broken window, instantly catching Sam’s attention.

No.

No way.

Mr. Get Outta My Swamp Skeleton had invited people into his workspace,  _ before her _ ?

This was an outrage. Sam felt so ready to kick through a door like she had seen Papyrus do so many times, “FOR DRAMATIC FLAIR!” and give that traitor the what for, but she stopped herself. A tiny, but very stern voice chided at her to ‘Slow down and actually think things through for once.’ 

Sometimes the logical side of her brain could really come in handy.

So there Sam was, crouched beneath a window, currently eavesdropping on the weirdest conversation she had ever non-officially been apart of, and becoming more confused by the minute.

  
  


“i told you already, i don’t know what went wrong, but i’m sure i can fix it, and bring all of you back to your respective worlds.”

“I CAN’T BELIEVE WE ARE REALLY IN ANOTHER DIMENSION!” In great juxtaposition to Sans deep voice, this one sounded as if he(?) subsisted on helium instead of oxygen, and spoke in such a way that every syllable he(?) produced sounded like the beginnings of the sweetest song.

Sam frowned, but barely had time to think on anything that had been said before yet another voice broke through her thoughts.

“this whole mess is a load of fuckin’ bull shi-”

“SANS, WATCH YOUR FILTHY MOUTH!”

Jeez, those guys sounded mean. Wait. What did that disembodied voice mean by Sans? That certainly didn’t sound like him, it was much too deep and gravely.

What was Sans even doing with these people? 

The voices continued to converse, unaware of the presence that was hanging on every word they spoke. 

“And Just What Do You Expect Us To Do In The Meantime, Imposter? 

This voice sounded familiar somehow. Not in tone, no, it was much too harsh. Too...suave, and more frigid than the first ice of Autumn. But the way that they enunciated their words, it sounded very similar to how Papyrus spoke. Paps had always carried a very powerful, domineering voice, much like this new one, the only difference was that this voice sounded way too full of itself, like it believed itself to be superior to everyone around it, and didn’t feel the need to hide it. 

Sans continued on like no one had interrupted, but even just by the sound of his voice, Sam could tell he was getting pretty fed up with the conversation. “listen, the arc was busted up pretty bad in the explosion, and until i can fix it, you’re all pretty much stuck here.”

A chorus of different voices filled the room, and with the way they were all shouting, it made Sam glad that she couldn’t pick out what they were saying. 

At this point, Sam was at war with herself. With half of her brain wanting nothing more than to slink away as quickly and quietly as possible to scrub this confounding situation from her memory, which she would have done, if not for the other, much louder part of her brain which was screaming at her to get the answers to her dozens of burning questions.

Sam normally didn’t think of herself as a rude person. She liked to think that Pap and Sans (but mostly Pap) had done an excellent job with instilling manners in her. She took off her shoes when entering someone's house, covered her mouth when she burped or sneezed, and always helped clean up after dinner.

But there was this fire that had wedged itself deep inside her belly, and her mind was screaming at her that the only way it could be quenched was by kicking down that door, marching in there, and demanding some answers.

Alternate timelines, different dimensions, brief mentions of  _ explosions _ , and a wide array of voices, some of which were directly referred to as ‘Sans’. Needless to say, the fact that Sam couldn’t see for herself what was going on that the moment was absolutely killing her.

And she would be lying if she said she wasn’t reaching the end of her patience.

Sans voice broke out from the din, sounding unusually loud and, dare she say, stressed out? Sans would never willingly put himself into a situation that made him sweat or panic.

“yeah, yeah, i get it! i don’t exactly like this either.”

The disgruntled voices scoffed at his words. Sans ignored them and continued.

“just listen up. until i figure everything out, i think the safest option would be for you all to stay here on our property.”

He was cut off by a flurry of curses and angry voices, but the noise abruptly halted, and the room grew concerningly silent.

_ What on earth is happening in there? _

Sam edged even closer to the door and noted that her hand was trembling a bit as she reached for the handle. Her other hand reached to push up her glasses, only to be met with empty air. She duly acknowledged that she must’ve lost them in her mad dash to get home and briefly mourned the loss of the pair and her phone, they’d both been good to her.

_ Okay,  _ She thought, taking a silent, steadying breath. _ I’ll count to five, and then go in. I’ll demand to know what’s going on, and I won’t leave until I know, not even if Sans tells me to.  _ Sam thought this sounded reasonable enough, but actually putting the plan in action and trusting herself not to waiver under Sans inevitable anger was a different matter entirely.

The eerie quiet spell that had struck the room was broken when Sans spoke up again, voice sounding quite unlike himself. It was darker, deeper. More… menacing.

“as i was saying. the best option would be for you all to stay here. just until everything gets sorted out. capiche?” This time, not one peep was heard from the mystery group.

Sam could practically hear the smile in his voice as he spoke again. “but, before we go any further, i think now would be a good time to set some ground rules. first off, until everything has settled down, no one is allowed to leave the property under any circumstance.” 

And just like that, the shouts of contention were back at full force. But, Sam had to admit that she sympathized with their anger on this one. Who was Sans to decide where his house guests could and couldn’t go? What were they, prisoners? Also, wait. They were all staying over? Why wasn’t she notified of this?! She didn’t even have time to prepare her famous ‘Welcome Cake’.

This time, the room quieted almost immediately as Sans spoke up again. “secondly, you’re all going to have to choose an alias. just something to go by for now, to avoid any confusion or suspicion.”

Too late. She was already very confused and highly suspicious. Enough was enough. Her eyes narrowed as she gripped the handle, twisting it. No more stalling, she was going to find out what was going on and she was going to find out now.

“and finally,” Sans began, sounding more serious than she had ever heard him. 

_ Click! _

Sam winced as she turned the knob. Sans had heard it, and everyone else had too. The deafening silence that had fallen over the room was enough to clue her into that. She steeled herself, pushing the door open with a lot more confidence than she felt. 

Sam almost tripped on the single step she took into the musty shack. It wasn’t quite the dream lab she had always thought it would be, but there would be time for disappointment later. Now, a large portion of her mind was giving itself to the cloudy fear and disbelief that rolled around in her head.

The first thing she noticed was a huge machine pressed up against the back wall, so tall that it scraped the ceiling. Sam imagined that had it not been completely busted up, with mangled bits of wires, glass, and metal poking out in every direction, the thing could have been a very awe-inspiring sight to behold. 

It had looked to be a circular shape when it was in its prime, but whatever had happened to it had warped the metal around the edges, and it now looked more like an egg than anything. 

Large metal tubes connected around the perimeter of the structure, with some hanging limply, looking ready to fall to the floor at the slightest gust of wind.

The oval-shaped machine pushed inwards on itself, leaving space for someone to fit inside.

Is this what San’s had been trying to keep from her and Papyrus? For what reason?

She tore her eyes from the intimidating structure to focus on the person who stood in front of it. His eye sockets were devoid of light as he stared back at her, the sight of it was almost enough to shake her will and send her running to her room just to escape the chill that ran over her spine as they locked eyes.

The only reason she didn’t do just that was because of the many different sets of eyes that had also locked onto her, most fixing her with the very same look that Sans was giving her. And that alone was enough to freeze her where she stood, trembling as her eyes flitted between the different faces.

_ Skeletons.  _ Sam noted numbly.

Every single face that looked back at her was that of a skeletons, which should have been impossible, considering that Sans and Papyrus were the only skeleton monsters that anyone knew of.

Yet somehow there was a horde of them standing right in front of her.

They all seemed to be grouped together in pairs of two, standing as far away from the others as the cramped quarters would allow.

Her mind couldn’t seem to digest all of the information that was being shoved at it, and her eyes blurred with the strain of her squint as she attempted to exist without her glasses, so she tore her burning eyes away from the newcomers and focused on the one face she did know in the crowd.

Her voice came out small and trembling when she spoke. Suddenly, she was six years old again, peeking her head into Sans’s room, wanting him to save her from the spooky nightmare she had had about the melty ghost face man that used to haunt her dreams.

“S-sans?”

As the last syllable left her mouth, Sans appeared in front of her in a flash of blue. She caught the faintest whiff of chlorine and ketchup as he looked down at her, faces so close they were practically nose to nose-hole.

He grasped her arms, catching her before she could fall backwards in surprise at his sudden appearance. His hold was uncomfortably tight.

  
  


**“get. out.”**

His voice was like rolling thunder, and it had her trembling down to her very soul. Never had he ever talked to her that way. So cold and angry, hateful even. It filled Sam with fear, regret, heartache.

And seething, snapping, broiling anger.

It grew like a vine in her belly, fueled by the fire that had sparked from the heat of his voice. It shot up and rooted itself into every nerve until every single cell in her body shook with bright, hot, righteous anger like she had never felt before.

It scared her. How powerful and confident she suddenly felt. It scared her how easy it was to push away any remaining fear and bite out the one word she was trying so hard to hold back. The answer she had never once given to Sans on the rare occasion that he asked her of something.

“No.”

The word was cold. Unforgiving as she spit it from her mouth like a stale wad of gum.

Sans’s eyes widened in shock. Sam’s would have too if not for the fact that she was too busy blinking away the rapidly forming tears that threatened to cloud her already foggy vision.

The way he looked so dumbfounded sent a surge of cruel confidence down her spine, straightening it like it fed on his weakness. Though she didn’t feel quite as strong as she looked.

“You heard me, Sans.” She continued in that cruel, unrecognizable voice. “I’m not leaving until you tell me what the hell is going on here.”

A growl rippled through the air. Any misgivings she had been harboring about talking and feeling this way towards Sans were thrown out the window. Because Sans the Skeleton had just  _ growled  _ at her.

_ Oh no you don’t, buddy. _

Sam’s back straightened with a snap. Baring her teeth, she glared at Sans with all the anger she could muster. She hoped it would underline how serious she was being at the moment. 

“Ooh. Do not give me that, Sans Serif.” She took a step forward. Her anger was reaching an unmanageable level now, and she knew she would need to calm down before she totally blew her top. Wrenching her arms from his grasp, which had apparently loosened in surprise, she tried to take a calming breath.

She felt a bit more control come back to her as she inhaled the dusty air.

“I have. Every. Right. To know what is going on here.” She bit out, holding herself back from a full on yell and taking another step forward. She was surprised to see him stumble backwards slightly. His face was the picture of shock now, eye lights returned but as small as pinpricks.

“I’m sick and tired of you treating me like I’m a baby.” Her finger jabbed into his chest, emphasizing every word. “I’m fourteen. And guess what Sans! I don’t know what exactly happened here, but if it's anything like I think it is, you messed up. Big time,”

Another poke to the chest. She had pushed Sans so far back he was pressed against his workbench, leaning further away in an attempt to gain some distance from her jabbing fingers and bitter glare.

“So you have no right to take your anger out on me or anyone else just because you feel like a failure.”

Sam stood there, glaring up at the shocked skeleton, trembling with the aftershocks of her first full-blown freakout. He stared back, eye lights almost vanishing again in his sockets. The only sound in the room came from Sam herself, puffing out short breaths of anger.

She stepped backward after a moment. Giving Sans some room to breathe. 

_ I can’t believe I just did that.  _ The thought bounced around in her head. It held no excitement, fear, or anger in its tone. Only numb disbelief.

_ I can’t believe I just did that. _

She would analyze her outburst later. For now…

She took a step towards the horde of skeletons that had been silently watching the exchange. From the looks on their faces, it was more out of confusion than anything.

They all held a striking resemblance to either Sans or Papyrus. Smatters of the conversation they had been having before Sam had interrupted replayed through her mind.

_ “Alternate dimensions.” _ One had said.

There was no other explanation. Not that she could think of. But if it were true. That would have to mean that these poor souls had somehow been ripped from their own worlds. How could that be possible? The machine lining the back wall suddenly looked ten times more menacing.

They had just been forcibly pulled into this dimension. They were probably scared and confused, reeling from new discoveries and the fact that their only hope of returning home looked completely unusable at the moment.

Guilt threatened to break her soul in half as she thought back to the shameful way she had just acted. The last thing these guys needed was to listen to some dumb teen go through her rebel phase right in front of them.

She shuttered a breath, trying to rearrange her face into something a bit more pleasant. If she were in their position right now, she would want a friendly face to help ground her while she sorted everything out. She tried to be that for them now.

A small smile pulled at her lips as she looked them over, which was hard to do without anything to aid her grandma vision. At least she didn’t need glasses to recognize the death glares some were giving her. But from what she could tell, not all seemed to regard her with the same level of hatred. That was a plus, at least.

“I think I get the gist of what’s happened,” Sam said, taking a step forward, ignoring Sans as he growled at her to get back.

Movement caught her eye, and she turned to find that a short skeleton, only a few inches taller than herself, was excitedly bouncing on the balls of his feet. A wide smile threatened to split his skull as he stared at her, star-shaped eyelights nearly bulging out of his sockets.

This one was close enough that she could actually make him out.

He looked a shocking amount like Sans. But one glance at his choice of clothing, and the general way in which he held himself, told Sam that the two were vastly different. In fact, looking down, Sam could see that the only real similarity he showed to her Sans was the black and white striped basketball shorts that he wore.

The rest, well. Maybe this is how her Sans would dress if he actually cared. The thought made her soul prickle a tiny bit.

This Sans was wearing actual shoes on his feet, rather than the pink slippers her Sans seemed so fond of. The blue boots worked surprisingly well on him, and stood out against the plain white of his shirt. He was clad in gloves and a bandana as well, both as bright blue as his footwear. But none of those were as striking the electric blue stars that floated about in his eye sockets. 

This was the first time Sam had really locked eyes with one of their ‘guests’, and to say she was intrigued would be an understatement. She had to fight the urge to step closer to him, wanting to give him some personal space. Though, the way he was looking at her, -big bright stars practically popping out of his sockets- made Sam think that he was every bit as curious about her as she was of him.

She fought off a chuckle, as her mind registered that he looked a bit like a blueberry.

Turning her attention back to the whole group, she smiled, about to either welcome them, or apologize. Probably both, but before she could get even a single syllable out, a deep chuckle cut her off. 

The rough laughter startled her as she whipped her head around to face the source of the noise and had to stop herself from gaping up at the smiling skeleton. He had to be at least two heads taller than her.

He was another carbon copy of Sans, except for the fact that he was ridiculously tall and looked like he shopped for clothes exclusively at Hot Topic.

He chuckled again, bringing her attention to his mouth, which was rimmed with the sharpest teeth she had ever seen on a monster, and she knew Undyne. A flicker of light caught her eye, and Sam realized that to top off the intimidating skeleton package in front of her, a gold tooth sat snuggly in his mouth, just as pointy-looking as its brothers.

The atmosphere was tense as the edgy skeleton laughed. Sam quirked her brow at him expectantly. 

What was so funny?

One hand clamped around his mouth in an effort to stifle the chuckles that were spilling past his lips. He pointed at her, or more specifically, at her shirt.

  
  


Oh. 

Once the other's attention had been directed to the punny T-shirt she was wearing, it took only a moment for a chorus of laughter to fill the air, with accompanying groans. The situation felt deeply familiar.

A blush spiked her face as the sniggering continued. She felt her ears redden as she crossed her arms to hide the shirt, bringing about even more chuckles.

A familiar voice let out a shrill screech. “SANS, YOU BUFFOON! CAN YOU NOT EVEN REMAIN SERIOUS IN A SITUATION AS DIRE AS THIS!?” 

Sam recognized the voice's owner as the skeleton who had told gold-toothed Sans off for using profanity. Getting a better look at the skeleton, Sam’s jaw really did drop this time.

_ Holy mother of angst! _

If she had thought Red Sans was an edgelord, then this specimen was clearly the Edge King.

With wicked spiked shoulder pads that looked like they had come right out of the eighties, and clawed red gloves with accompanying boots, the enormously tall skeleton looked like he ate My Chemical Romance songs for breakfast. The skinny jeans and red belt weren’t helping much either. 

Whereas the short, blue skeleton Sam had passed a moment ago looked like Sans, this one bore a striking resemblance to Papyrus, minus the prickly cactus vibes.

Edgy Paps, as Sam had decided to dub him, was intimidating as all get out, but as he turned his head to glare at her and the offending shirt she was wearing, she didn’t feel any fear. Only a pang of sympathy as she noticed the three faint cracks trailing right down the middle of his left eye socket. How had he gotten those?

Red Sans didn’t seem to be phased by the insults Edgy Papyrus threw his way, simply shrugging his shoulders and giving him a cheesy wink in a move that reminded her so much of Sans that she had to turn around, just to make sure that he was still there, and not secretly his pointy-toothed doppelganger in disguise.

Her Sans hadn’t moved from where she had backed him up against his table, and he was staring at the exchange going on with rapt attention. Every bone in his body looked tense as he seemed to be trying to follow everyone's movements at once. Sam noticed his eye lights flitting over to one corner in particular, where another pair seemed to reside. 

Her eyesight was good enough to make out how incredibly tall they were. So much so that one's oddly lopsided head seemed to be scraping the ceiling, and the other had to crouch down to avoid hitting it all together.

Other than the fact that the other pairs seemed to want to get as far away from them as possible, she couldn’t glean much else off of them. Not at this distance, at least.

She blinked, directing her attention back at Sans.

He looked so unlike himself it was concerning, and the sudden urge to damage-control the situation kicked in. She just wanted him to go back to the happy, carefree skeleton she knew he was.

Luckily, Red Sans had given her an out. Laughter was the best medicine after all, and if these skeletons were anything like the ones she knew, this was going to be a piece of cake.

Sam let out a tiny chuckle as she turned back towards the skeletons, who all looked a bit more at ease after their little bout of chuckling, even the ones who had been voicing their displeasure at her stupid shirt. This was something that was familiar to all parties, and the comfortable atmosphere seemed to have taken the edge off, if even just a little.

Sam smiled. Showtime.

“Heh, I guess this shirt really tickled your funny bone, huh? To tell you the tooth, it's actually my pride and joy-nt. When I saw it at the store, my jaw dropped. I knew that I needed to have it, after all, carpal Diem. Never put off for to-marrow what can be done today!”

The response was immediate and like music to her ears. More laughter, more groans. Fewer death glares, more regular glares. Puns had always been the number one way of easing tension, and Sam had been blessed with the chance to learn from the best.

“MWEH! PAPY, THIS IS HORRIBLE! THIS IS MY FIRST TIME MEETING A HUMAN AND I JUST HAD TO GET THE ONE THAT ENJOYS PUNS!” The short, bandana-wearing skeleton she had inspected earlier spit the word out like a curse, but didn’t seem ready to kill her like Edgy Papyrus was, judging by the look he was giving her.

This… Blue Sans seemed more disappointed than anything. Rolling his eyes in a similar manner to the purple jacketed Papyrus who was leaning against the side of the shed with his arms crossed. She hadn’t even noticed him back there.

God, she needed her glasses back.

Once the smatter of chuckles bouncing around the room had died down, the atmosphere had noticeably improved. Sam decided now was the best time to get back to the problem at hand.

Eyes were on her again as she cleared her throat. The looks she received still weren’t exactly welcoming, but she would take distrust and possible slight disgust over pure hatred any day.

“Well, ah. It's nice to meet you all!” Friendliness was the name of the game. “I just wanted to say that I’m really sorry about all of this. I know you’re probably all confused, I am too honestly, but like Sans said, our house is open to you. If you’d like, you can all come in so you don’t have to figure everything out in a dirty little workshop.”

As she spoke, Sam turned her back on the crowd of skeletons, opening the door to the shed. Light flooded out through the threshold as she waited politely, holding it open with a smile.

There was a slight hesitation before Blue Sans bounded forwards towards the door with an orange hoodied Papyrus on his heels, looking at the light filtering through with an odd expression on his face.

“UM, HUMAN, JUST WHERE EXACTLY ARE WE?”   
  


The question puzzled Sam. Why should that matter? Would he even know if she told him?

“Ebott City. Why?”

“WHAT IS ALL OF THAT BRIGHT STUFF?”

Sam blinked. Now that question surprised her. She did her best to try to answer him.

“Um, do you mean the sunli-”

“so were you guys all freed in your universe or…” Orange Papyrus cut her off, turning to look over at Sans, who lifted a bone brow in question.

“‘fraid i don’t know what you’re talking ‘bout there, bud.”

“i’ll take that as a no, then. nyeh heh, that's rich.”

Okay, what on Earth was he talking about.

“Um, excuse me?” Orange Papyrus shifted his eyelights down to look at her, quirking a brow just as Sans had.

“What do you mean by, ‘freed’?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the sudden ending, it was getting a little too long there, whoops!


	3. Meet the Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> help I am so bad at chapter titles

  
  
“C’mon, gimme something here!” Sam fussed as she tore through the fridge, knocking over a half-empty carton of milk, an old bag of peas, and an unopened can of beans in search of anything that could be used to feed the crowd of hungry mouths that were currently sitting in her backyard, being supervised by Sans. 

That thought alone was incentive enough for her to want to rush back asap.

It had taken her a while to get their focus back on the glaring issue of being trapped in the wrong dimension. For some odd reason, the moment they had stepped out into the backyard their collective attentions had all been focused on every little thing around them.

Some openly gawked at every bird, bug, or squirrel that skittered by, Blue Sans had almost thrown himself into Papyrus’s beloved rose bushes after Sam had told him to give them a sniff. And the angrier purple version of Sans had to literally drag the lazy purple version of Papyrus to his feet after he had flopped down in the grass, looking dead to the world.

Heh. Dead. Sam cracked herself up.

Some of the more prickly skeletons had simply crossed their arms and huffed at the other's excitement, but the lovely breeze that had lilted through the yard, rustling the trees around them, had even the most tsundere of the skeletons picking their jaws up off the ground. (Heh.)

She would definitely have to ask about the weird behavior later. Ever since Orange Papyrus had brushed off her question, her curiosity has only peaked. But right now…

Her breath fogged against the cool air of the fridge as she slammed it closed- a bit harder than necessary.

Sam’s promise of food had been the main thing that got the group back on track, and so far her stash consisted of a huge bowl of leftover spaghetti, a party-sized bag of Doritos, an unopened box of blueberry scones, and ten finely cooked hot dogs, or ‘emergency ‘dogs’ as Sans liked to call them. 

She knew he had planned on saving them (for lord-knows-how-long), but if the situation they were in right now didn’t classify as an emergency, then she didn’t know what did.   
  


Sam momentarily cursed the big breakfast they had eaten this morning. It had really drained the last of their food sources.

  
  


Papyrus was probably on his grocery run at this very moment. Would it be weird if she called him to ask if he could get three times as much as he normally did? How would Paps even react to this whole situation when he got home? Sam imagined a huge freakout, with him shouting about how he didn’t have enough Housewarming Spaghetti to feed them all.

She heaved a sigh, gathering up as much of the pathetic food stash she could carry out into the backyard. But not before shooting a text to Paps, asking him to buy food in bulk this week.

Sliding open the back door with the containers of food perched precariously in her arms was a challenge, but she prevailed. Inching slowly through the yard, she noticed that their guests were once again spread out, giving each other a wide berth like they had been doing in the shed. 

Looking around, she spotted the dark blue blur that must have been Sans leaning against the back of the shed, not moving an inch. If it weren’t for the way his shoulders were tensed up beneath his jacket she would have assumed he had fallen asleep right where he was standing. 

Sam's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember the last time Sans had been so worked up about anything, but nothing came to mind.

Setting aside her concern for the eldest brother, Sam peeled her eyes away from Sans and searched the yard for a good place to set the tray of food she was carrying, noting along the way that there were a lot more skeletons than she had originally thought.

Now that they weren't all crowded together, she could count eight in total, all in little groups of two scattered around, avoiding one another like the plague. She was gonna have a bad time running around serving food to everyone like that. They certainly weren’t making this hostess thing easy on her.

Sam stumbled to the nearest bench - the one Blue Sans and Orange Papyrus were currently occupying - and plopped down all of the  junk food she had acquired with a huff.

They eyed the pile with curiosity and Sam gave them a guilty smile.

“Sorry we don’t have anything better to eat, my Paps will be home soon with groceries.”

Blue Sans stood up on his seat, placing a fist to his chest. The air around him seemed to buzz with unbridled energy. “MWEH HEH, NOT TO WORRY, HUMAN! THE MAGNIFICENT SANS IS ALWAYS SURE TO ENJOY ANY MEAL IF HE’S IN THE COMPANY OF GOOD FRIENDS!” 

He held out his hand, eye lights shimmering.

Sam blinked. This skeleton couldn’t possibly be referring to  _ her _ as a...

“Do you-do you mean-”

The area around his nasal ridge blued as he quickly snatched his hand back like she had burned him. “O-OF COURSE, THAT IS, ONLY IF YOU WANT TO BE! I KNOW THAT MANY ARE OFTEN INTIMIDATED BY SOMEONE AS STUPENDOUS AS I!”

Sam’s heart swelled. Was this skeleton really offering her the olive branch before he even got the chance to know her? In any case, she wasn’t complaining. She plopped down on the opposite side of the bench, startling them both as she squealed.

“I’d LOVE to be your friend!”

Blue Sans started. “REALLY? I-I MEAN, MWEH HEH! OF COURSE YOU WOULD, HUMAN! AFTER ALL, WHO WOULDN’T WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH SOMEONE SO MAGNIFICENT?”

Sam put a hand to her mouth to smother a giggle. This skeleton may look like Sans, but he was a true Papyrus at heart.

“Now that we’re friends, we should do something fun together!”

Sam thought for a second, mind racing as she tried to think of something they could do together on such short notice. It was hard to just pick one thing, she wanted to do everything with her new friend. “Oh, I know!” Sam reached over the table, snatching up Blue Sans’s hands in hers.

His magic buzzed across her skin, and she took a moment to acknowledge how excitable it felt.

“Since you’re all gonna be living with us anyways, why don’t we have a sleepover? I can show you around my room, and we could share stories about our own dimensions. This could totally be an awesome learning experience!”

Sam’s eyes gleamed with excitement. She would sell her soul before she passed up the opportunity to learn more about an alternate dimension.

Blue Sans seemed to like the idea as well if his twinkling eye lights and huge smile were anything to go by. “MWEH! DID YOU HEAR THAT PAPY? I’VE GAINED MY FIRST HUMAN FRIEND, AND I DIDN’T EVEN HAVE TO CAPTURE THEM!”

Orange Papyrus chuckled, reaching a hand into the pocket of his hoodie to pull out... Was that a bottle of honey?

“nyeh heh. i heard it all right, bro. that's pretty sweet.” He gestured to the bottle before taking a swing. Blue Sans blanched. Sam, however, had to fight back the laughter that was clawing its way up her throat.

“Oh my gosh,” She snickered. “That was so dumb.”

She got up from the table, bidding them adieu as the blue-clad skeleton attempted to snatch the bottle out of Orange Papyrus’s hand, shouting about him “CORRUPTING THE HUMAN!”, only for Orange to pull it back at the last second, sending Blue Sans tumbling to the grass. 

Sam could sense a brotherly fight was brewing and didn’t want to be anywhere near them when it happened. She had been caught up in enough of Sans and Papyrus’s scraps to know not to get in the middle of them. She shivered, remembering the way the pasta sauce had felt when it had splattered against her face. No amount of showers had been enough to wash the tomato smell from her hair, and Sans’s had not wasted the opportunity to throw his best noodle puns at her.

Shaking off the unpleasant memory, she grabbed a tray with ten glorious hotdogs on it and wondered to whom she would give first dibs. Looking around the yard didn’t help much, everyone just looked like little colorful blurs.

After a moment of deliberation, she started off in the direction of the shed, where she assumed the two edgy skeletons stood - all she could see was a mess of red and black. 

She passed Sans as she walked, and tried to ignore the look of resigned disappointment on his face as he watched her saunter off towards two of the most intimidating monsters she had ever seen.

She was barely halfway across the yard when both sets of eyes shot up, locking directly onto her. She continued forward, ignoring their looks as well, until she was only a few feet away from them.

She held out the plate as they scrutinized her. “Hi, there! I was just wondering if you two wanted any-” she stopped short as the taller skeleton began chuckling. It was the first time she had heard him laugh. It was high and nasally and sounded eerily similar to the mustachioed villain's evil laugh on one of those old cartoons she used to watch. 

“AND WHY WOULD YOU THINK WE WOULD EVER CONSUME ANY OF YOUR SLOP, HUMAN?”

Wow okay, rude. Sam ignored the insult, she needed to be level-headed about this. This was a Papyrus, and if there was one person she knew better than anyone, it was Papyrus.

“Oh, you’re right, I’m so sorry. I just couldn’t help but notice how cool you looked, you’re a Papyrus, right?”

He gave another sharp laugh, but this time it didn’t sound as cruel as it had before, just.. really full of himself. “I AM NOT JUST ‘A’ PAPYRUS, YOU SAD, DUMB HUMAN!” He raised a gloved fist to the air. Always the theatrics with these guys. “I AM  _ THE _ GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS! CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD, AND FEARED BY ALL THROUGHOUT THE UNDERGROUND!”

Sam’s eyes widened “Woah, wait. Really?! That's amazing!” Sam had planned on being a dirty brown-noser, but his comment genuinely surprised her. Everyone who lived in Ebott City knew of the royal guard. It was an elite group of monsters and humans dedicated to the protection of the royal family, and the captain was the strongest, most revered member. The one most trusted by the king and queen themselves. 

Her Papyrus had actually been training to become a guard, until Undyne, the current captain - and one of Sam's besties - had introduced him to the wonderful world of motivational speaking.

She was happy that at least one version of Papy had gone on to not only become a member, but a full-fledged captain of the Royal Guard. 

The only thing that had puzzled her was his use of the word ‘Underground’. Was that code for something, like an underground group of bad guys? Sam decided to file the question under ‘Things to ask about later’ in her mind, as ‘The Great and Terrible Papyrus’ put his hands on his hips, and bent down to meet Sam's eyes.

“NYAH HAH! I AM GLAD THAT YOU HAVE ENOUGH OF A BRAIN TO RECOGNIZE GREATNESS WHEN YOU SEE IT, SHRIMPY HUMAN! PERHAPS THERE IS HOPE FOR YOU YET!”

Sam grinned. “Of course! I think it's awesome that you managed to climb all the way to the top! Even my Pap’s couldn’t do it!” 

Sam didn’t even have to try to kiss up to him now. Her natural response when speaking to Papyrus was to gush over how incredibly cool he was. She supposed that the same rule applied to any of his counterparts as well. “You have to tell me some of your battle stories! Is it really scary being in the guard? Have you ever been attacked? You must be super strong!”

The Great and Terrible Papyrus blinked at the barrage of questions she threw at him. And she couldn’t help but notice the slight red blush on his face as he straightened and cleared his non-existent throat. “AHEM, WELL! I SUPPOSE IF YOU ARE SO EAGER FOR ME TO REGALE YOU WITH STORIES OF MY HEROICS, THEN I HAVE NO CHOICE! Sam squealed. That sounded like a yes to her. “AND I GUESS WE SHALL ALSO ACCEPT YOUR GREASY SLOP AS AN OFFERING!” He held out a bony hand to the silver plate she was carrying.

Edgy Sans, who had been watching their exchange with lidded sockets, suddenly jolted. “wait, really? boss, ya ain’t seriou-”

“SILENCE SANS! I ASSUMED YOU WOULD HAVE ENJOYED THIS GARBAGE, AFTER ALL, YOU ARE KNOWN TO EAT IT WHEN YOU’RE HUNGRY ENOUGH.” He plucked a ‘dog off her tray with two fingers and tossed it to Sans, who caught it, looking back and forth between the hotdog and Papyrus, before shrugging, and devouring it in one bite. Papyrus took a little more time with his, a small grimace on his face as he held it in front of him. He kept looking back at Sam, who was beginning to feel a little sorry for him.

“You know, you don’t have to eat it.” Sam tipped her head to the side, a small half-smile forming on her face. “It won’t hurt my feelings if you don’t.” 

Edgy Papyrus blushed furiously, turning away from her as he snarled. 

“YOU THINK ONE AS TERRIBLE AS I CARE ABOUT THE FEELINGS OF A SMALL PATHETIC HUMAN? I AM SIMPLY WEARY AFTER BEING PULLED FROM MY DIMENSION, THAT IS ALL!” 

“Oh. Okay then, but just so you know, there's spaghetti over there if you want that instead.” Sam gestured to the picnic table where Blue and Orange were sat. 

Oh, wait, scratch that. Blue, Orange, and two other blurs were also hanging out near the table. Sam could feel the tension in the air from here.

“Oh gosh. Hang on, sorry, I have to go see what's going on over there!”

She left even as Edgy Papyrus called out to her. No doubt wanting her to stay so he could once again reassure her that he did not, in fact, care about her feelings.

Sam sped walked to the table, where there was an obvious commotion brewing, going as fast as she could without dumping the plate full of hotdogs. She was near enough now to recognize the newcomers as the angry purple Sans, and an equally as purple Papyrus counterpart.

As she trotted into earshot, the situation became clear. 

“What? You Really Expect Me To Believe That I Am In Any Way Connected To Someone As Pathetic Looking As You?” The cruel voice gibed, and Sam recognized it as the voice that had sounded so utterly pompous in the shed. The bootlicking voice. 

And he seemed to be directing his comment towards Blue Sans, who, bless his soul, looked about ready to burst into tears.

Orange Papyrus was staring daggers at the Sans who had not ceased his mocking of Blue, and Purple Papyrus was staring at Orange in the same manner.

Jeeze, she really needed to give them solid nicknames before she fried her brain trying to remember all of these colors.

“hey there  _ buddy _ , you should really watch what you say about my bro.” At first glance, Orange seemed completely relaxed, but a closer inspection of his bottle of honey showed that it looked like it was about to burst from the strength of his grip.

Purple Sans sneered at him, unaware or uncaring of how angry the monster he was mocking was. “Oh, I’m Quaking!” He held his hands out in a false gesture of fear before glaring at Orange. “Just What Are You Going To Do About It? You Look Even More Pitiful Than My Mutt.”

If Purple Papyrus, or...Mutt, as Angry Sans had so kindly referred to him as, took any insult to the comment, he didn’t show it. He just continued to stare at Orange, not glaring, but the look he was giving him certainly didn’t seem friendly either.

Sam decided to intervene before anything could get even more heated.

“Hey! What’s going on over here?” She shouted as she jogged the rest of the way to the table. Both Sans looked her way, but the Papyrus’s continued on with their staring match, not acknowledging her presence.

Purple Sans snarled at her. “This Has Nothing To Do With You, Filthy Human, So Step Back Before I Do Something You’ll Regret.” 

Sam hesitated at the sound of his voice. He didn’t seem like the kind of monster to throw empty promises around, and if looks could kill, then the glare he was giving her certainly would have.

“OH, HUMAN!” Blue Sans butted in with a strained grin “IT WAS KIND OF YOU TO RUSH OVER HERE, BUT THE MAGNIFICENT SANS HAS THIS ALL UNDER CONTROL!” 

There were tears in his eyes, but he puffed out his chest and gave her his most confident smile. “MY LOVELY DOPPELGANGER AND I WERE JUST HAVING A DISCUSSION ABOUT THE NATURE OF OUR NAMES!”

Purple Sans crossed his arms, still fixing Sam with a glare, as if she was the one responsible for whatever they were arguing about. “Yes. The Buffoon Who Wrongly Calls Himself ‘Sans’ Needed To Be Knocked Down A Few Pegs For Even Thinking That He Was Worthy Enough Of The Name!” 

Orange growled.

Oh, the hubris of these skeletons, it astounded her. Well, if they were going to fly too close to the sun, Sam would have to be the one to melt their wings.

“You know, my Sans did say something about everyone getting nicknames, so that shouldn’t be a problem!”

“NYAH!” A nasly shriek sounded from behind her. “SMALL HUMAN, I REFUSE TO PARTAKE IN THE NAMING OF NICKS, IT IS FAR BENEATH ME! I DEMAND THE RIGHT TO KEEP MY FULL NAME, THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS!”

A chorus of general agreement flooded through the air as Sam began to sweat. The commotion was beginning to attract everyone over to the tiny table.

This was quickly becoming too much for her sleep-deprived brain too fast. Looking past the swarm of bodies that had begun to form a circle around the bench, she tried to catch San's eye from his place near the shed. He was staring daggers into the ground, oblivious to the commotion that was beginning to stir.

Giving up on trying to get Sans's attention, she focused on trying to speak up over the din as the conversation morphed into more arguments, mostly about who should get to keep their own name if she was hearing them right.

“Can I just-”

“ey. why tha fuck should some tiny purple prick be the one to decide who gets what?”

“Hey, guys wait a sec-”

“Maybe It’s Because, Unlike You, I Actually Have A Brain In My Skull And I’m Not A Drooling Dribbling Troglodyte!” 

“Guys?”

“NYAH! HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO THE BROTHER OF THE CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD IN THAT MANNER! THE ONLY ONE WHO’S ALLOWED TO INSULT HIM IS  _ ME! _

“Oh Please. You? Captain Of The Royal Guard? Don’t Make Me-”

_ “BOYS!!!” _

Sam stomped her foot down, shaking the food on the table. She was now standing on top of the bench, eye level with most of the rowdy skeletons. She crossed her arms and fixed the group with a glare. 

The group fell silent as they stared at her. Some wide-eyed and waiting, others with a sour look that matched her own.

“The rule has already been set, so there's no point in yelling about it. You’re all smart, just think about how confusing it would be if you all kept the same names!”

None could argue with that. If they were all going to be living together, for the time being, they would need to cooperate to some extent. Sam knew that they knew that.

Red Sans scoffed nonetheless. “well i ain’t choosing some dumb nickname fer myself, shits stupid.”

Sam opened her mouth, about to speak up and offer to choose one for him, when the deep voice of the monster she had been waiting for cut through her suggestion.

“well, that won’t be a problem, cause i already took the liberty of deciding those names for everyone.”

Red Sans scowl twisted into a look that was somehow even more terrifying than the one he had already been using, but said nothing in response. In fact, Sam found it odd that none of the skeletons had chosen to speak out against Sans, even though many of them looked as though they really wanted to.

Without further adieu, Sans pointed a boney finger at Blue Sans and Orange Papyrus as Sam hopped down from the table, slightly disappointed at the fact that she wouldn't get the chance to show off her naming skills. 

“you,” Sans gestured to Blue Sans, “you’re blue now, and your bro’s stretch.”

Sans waited for a second, as if he was giving them a chance to speak up if they didn’t like the names, and when they didn’t, he continued on.

Red Sans became Red, and Edgy Papyrus became Edge. Purple Sans became Black, but before Sans could say anything about Purple Papyrus, he spoke up for the first time. 

“m’names mutt.” 

His voice was gravely, like he had spent the last decade smoking ten packs of cigs a day. But it also held the same edge to it that Purple Sans’s had. He sounded on guard, like most everyone else did.

Sans didn’t seem to have a problem with that, simply shrugging and looking around the group. His sockets narrowed after a moment, and he looked up, scanning the yard for something unknown to Sam.

From behind her a throat was cleared softly, and all eye-sockets shifted, focusing directly over her shoulder. At the look of anger, and a slight, slight, hint of fear in Sans eye lights, Sam whipped around. Her hands flew to her mouth to muffle the small scream of fear that had been pulled from her as she looked at the two monsters in front of her.

_ Red  _ filled her vision as she stared into the giant bulbous eyelight of the second tallest monster she had ever seen. Standing next to him was a Papyrus, Or what would have been Papyrus if he was thrown into a blender for a few minutes, taken out, and stomped on a couple times.

He must have been at least eye level with the roof of Sans workshop, leaving him at about eight feet tall. As she craned her neck to get a better look at his face, she noticed rows upon rows of stained and crooked teeth settled snugly in his mouth. His eye lights were dim, and flickered like dying stars, and his battle body, which her Papyrus kept so clean and shiny, was marred with cracks and stains of unknowable origin.

The Sans that stood next to him fared no better as Sam managed to drag her eyes away from the heart-wrenching sight. The stains on his jacket were some of the worst she’d seen, and they only added to the ratty, torn up look of the thing. It was weird. Her Sans cherished his jacket, to the point where he would go weeks without showering just so he wouldn’t have to take it off. Sure it got smelly, but it was a well-loved kind of stink. 

This Sans though, his jacket had been torn and shredded so badly, it hung off his bones in ribbons. It looked like he had tried to stuff a live hyena in there.

She stared back at his eyelights-wait. No. Not eyelights. Eyelight. One giant, red, glowing eyelight was fixed on her face with all the intensity of a predator sizing up an easy meal. She didn’t have to wonder why his eye looked the way it did for long. One cautioned glance up to the top of his skull told her everything she needed to know.

She held in her gag with all the poise of one so seriously caught off guard as she stared up at the jagged, gaping hole cresting the top of his skull. It sat right above his engorged left eyelight, while the right one remained perpetually empty, with no light to be seen.

The silence spoke volumes as the skeletons; and Sam herself, continued to stare at the two newcomers. But the way that the taller one, the Papyrus, shifted about uncomfortably under the attention snapped Sam out of whatever trance had held her.

“H-hello,” She said, cringing internally at the way her voice trembled. “I, uh, I didn’t see you guys there, um, sorry about that…” She trailed off, never feeling as awkward as she did in this moment. Thankfully, if the Paps in front of her showed any offense to how she was acting, he didn’t show it.

“NYEH HEH, IT IS OKAY, LITTLE HUMAN! MY BROTHER AND I ARE MASTERS IN THE ART OF BLENDING IN AFTER ALL!” The towering Papyrus spoke, and it was like a warm cloud of comfort enveloped her. He sounded so much like her Paps, the sliver of fear she had of him melted away into shame. Hadn’t Papy himself taught her not to judge others on their appearances?

Sam didn’t know if these two knew anything about what they were doing at the moment, but before she could ask, a voice rang out, making itself clear among the hushed whispers that had been growing louder throughout the whole time she and Paps had been talking.

  
  


“I Have The Perfect Names For These Two, Imposter. We’ll Call The Tall One Crooks, And The Other Freakshow Can Be Horror.”

Deep chuckles filled the space as she felt rather than saw Papyrus shrink in on himself. A pang of anger erupted through her, similar to what she had felt that moment in the shed, when she had snapped at Sans. She opened her mouth to berate the crowd for laughing, but a fierce, guttural growl stopped the mocking laughter in its tracks as the group of skeletons tensed up and stared over Sam's shoulder once more. 

An amalgamation of smells mingled through the air, as seemingly all parties readied their magic. Sam was more than a little hesitant to turn around, towards the source of the deep, heartstopping growl that she could feel through her bones.

“S-SANS?” The tall Papyrus was wringing his hands so hard she feared his wrists might break. If his Sans had heard him, he didn’t show it as his growl continued, reaching an almost shrill peak. The look on his face was positively feral.

Oh boy, this was bad. The mob of skeletons glared at the giant Sans, bones tense as the pressure in the area grew so strong she could practically taste it.

Everyone was silent as the growl continued unbroken and unchallenged for what had to be a whole minute, before it finally petered out and the giant Sans took one large, threatening step towards Black, the one who had originally made the horrible joke. The purple-clad skeleton smirked, but the mauve-colored sweat that dripped down the side of his skull betrayed his nerves.

His voice was steady, and infused with confidence when he spoke. “Got Something To Say, _ Horror _ ?”

Faster than Sam could blink, the giant skeleton was in front of him. Or rather, in front of Mutt, who had stepped out in front of his brother at the last second. Mutts lidded sockets showed no trepidation as he stared up into the single eyelight, which was now as small as the fist Sam was balling as she tried her best to stay calm.

“nope. don't think so, pal.” Mutt said as cool as a cucumber, but the growl that could barely be heard under his breath shot another spike of fear through Sam as she watched in horror as red smoke seemed to pour from the furious skeletons one empty socket. It was immediately clear that he was getting ready to attack. And if a brawl started now, she didn’t think everyone would come out in one piece.

Sans seemed to be the only one the crowd listened to, but a quick glance towards the front of the bench showed his gaze was locked right onto tall Papyrus, with a pained look on his face. He seemed oblivious to the fight that was about to break out right in front of him.

Sam trembled where she stood, resigning herself to the fact that she would have to be the one to break this up before it became a full-on encounter. 

Internally, she was a mess. Her body and mind wouldn't cooperate with her as she fought to think of the correct thing to do in a situation like this. Her heart leaped as there was a sudden shift in the magic that had been dispersed into the air. It seemed to grow heavier, and so potent that she could see it.

And she knew, if she was going to act, it would have to be  _ now _ .

No sooner than that thought had popped into her brain did a strange voice that she could only assume was the product of too much stress called out to her. **_“Just calm down and think this through, Samantha. It’s alright.”_**

...Yeah. Yeah, the voice was right. She just had to slow down and think this through. Why had this whole mess started in the first place? It was clear that Sans didn’t like the insults that were being thrown at his brother. So Sam just had to set it right. A good, well-meaning nickname would do the trick. Right? 

She sure hoped so, because it was the only idea she had.

_ Okay, okay. Think. A nice, sweet nickname for a nice, sweet skeleton. It shouldn't be too hard, just slow down and- oh they’re growling again. Okay, scratch that, hurry up, hurry before someone gets dusted! _

What did this Paps remind her of? That’d give her some ideas.

Well, he was sweet, and warm, and. And...fluffy? Oh. OH. She had it! It was perfect, it was amazing! It was-

“Pancakes!” Sam shrieked just as Sans had raised his hand. Whether it was to summon bones or to simply claw at Mutt, Sam didn’t know, nor did she care. All that mattered was how his hand stilled in the air, just as the purple-clad skeletons did.

“...what?” It was the first word the manic skeleton had spoken. His voice was so deep it sent vibrations through her soul. But it was also soft, too soft for the way he was still holding his hand in the air at Mutt. A deadly treat.

“Pancakes.” Sam said again, calmer this time. She turned towards the unusually timid Papyrus as she said it. “Your nickname. It could be Pancakes. Or just Cakes for short. I-if you want it.” 

Sam tacked that last part on as an afterthought as she suddenly grew self continuous at the way he was staring at her. She turned away from him, focusing on the Sans who stood watch. He seemed to be waiting for confirmation from his brother. The peace of this space relied solely on whether or not Papyrus liked her crummy nickname.

“HUMAN…” Sam sucked in a breath. And then released in it a whoosh as she was suddenly thrown into the air. Papyrus swung her around, and sounded relievingly gleeful as he spoke.

“I LOVE IT!! NYEH HEH HEH, THANK YOU SMALL ONE!” The blood-orange tinted tears in his eyes was enough for Sam to relax in his hold. It was Papy after all, even if he hadn't come from her dimension.

Slowly. Oh so slowly, Sans withdrew his hand, sheathing the metaphorical sword. Mutt waited until Sans had retreated a good distance away from him and Black before she saw him relax.

All was quiet for a good minute as Sam felt the pressure and magic evaporate when the skeletons began to calm down. The newly named Cakes was still swinging her around like a doll, and Sam had a mind to tell him that her weak stomach may become a problem for his clothes in the very near future. But swallowed her comment, - and a bit of puke - not wanting to rain on his parade.

By the time he set her down, Sam's head was spinning. She shook herself, there was still one more monster to take care of. 

“Sans?” Four of the eight skeleton monsters turned to look at her when she called the name, but her focus was on the skeleton that had yet to have a name picked out. 

His head was bowed, like he was a kid in a candy store who had just been caught stealing. His eyelight had doubled in size, nearly filling the whole of his socket with blood-red light. He flinched slightly when she softly called his name, as if he knew she was speaking to him, even though he couldn’t see her.

_ “He’s a completely different person now.”  _ Sam mused as she watched him squirm under her gaze. He seemed to hate the feeling of eyes on him, which was unfortunate because at the moment, everyone’s was.

Sam tried to sound as calming as could be when she asked her question. “Would you like a name too?”

A pause. Then a sharp jerk of his head. 

Yes.

She thought for a moment. Many of the others Sans she had named after the colors they seemed to favor, she might as well keep the theme going. Obviously Red was off the table, so she decided to go with the next best thing.

“How does... Rust sound?”

She watched as his single eyelight dilated. Shifting from large to small to large again as he thought. She took it as a good sign as she watched his shoulders slump back just a bit more.

Okay, so was that it? Had she successfully gotten everyone through this process without anyone dying? 

Considering Sam had to do this all by herself, with no help from the still catatonic Sans, she considered today a complete win.

With a deep, deep sigh, Sam allowed her body to relax as well, wincing as she noticed the way her nails had dug angry red half-moons into the palms of her hands. 

Ignoring the slight pain, she looked back at Sans, who was still staring at Paps-or Cakes, as he would be now referred to-with an unreadable gaze. 

“Sans?” Sam called out quietly. The calling of his name seemed to shock him out of his stupor as he blinked and shook his skull. Sam frowned as she took in his appearance from where he stood on top of the table. Azure sweat dripped off his skull by the buckets, and his shaking eyelights were so small in his sockets they were practically non-existent. His hands were now stuffed in his pockets, a nervous gesture that she had come to know well.

“Are you okay, Sans? We lost you there for a minute.” 

When he spoke there was no waiver in his voice. Nothing to give away the fact that he looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack, or that he hadn’t noticed all of the commotion that had just transpired.

“eh, i'm alright kid, but whaddya say you go inside and take a load off? there’s still one more thing i gotta discuss with our...guests.”

Sam opened her mouth to argue, not wanting to be kept out of anything they were doing, but froze when she saw the expression on Sans face. The meaning was clear. She had stood up to him once that day, and it would not be happening again.

She felt her shoulders slump in defeat as she sighed and turned heel, stomping back to the house and grumbling all the while.

❇❇❇

Sans watched as Sam shambled back to the house, looking utterly defeated. He felt a pang of guilt in his soul for the way he had been acting towards her today, but pushed it away. This was serious business, and if Sans wasn’t firm with her, there was a very high possibility of her getting hurt. As much as Sans wanted to continue to be the lazy, carefree guy Sam knew and loved, he wouldn’t risk her or Paps getting in the middle of the mess he had made.

Sans whipped around to face the source of his ever growing headache. Eight skeletons that didn’t belong in his world. Eight skeletons who were probably all pretty pissed at him. Hell, he didn’t blame them, he was pissed at himself, too. 

“alrighty then.” Sans made doubly sure that his voice rang out as pleasant as can be, despite the raging storm of fear, confusion and anger swirling through his mind. “we still have one last thing to discuss.”

One of his copies, a sharp toothed edgy looking skeleton, stepped out in front of him. He was taller than Sans, by a head or so, and seemed to revel in his ability to look down on him.

“what else could ya possibly want from us, vanilla?” He growled out every word, obviously trying to seem more intimidating. Was it to scare Sans? Impress him? Sans didn’t know, nor did he care.

“we played yer little game. we didn’t mess with yer brat. we’re basically stuck with ya till this shit’s over. so what, what is else is so goddamn important that we gotta sit here an listen to you bitch?”

Sans grinned, his copy would have to try a little harder than that if he wanted to scare him. “we didn’t have the chance to go over the final rule. we were interrupted, remember? there's still one more thing i think you all should know before coming to live with my family.”

Sans’s smile widened until it became more of a grimace than anything, and watched his world dim slightly as his eyelights winked out. 

“if any of you so much as lay a finger on my bro or my kid,” His voice dropped an octave, and he shed the pleasant persona he had been putting on. “you’ll be dead where you stand.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wham bam thank u ma'am, finished another chapter :3. I'm gonna have to go about this carefully, but the soft boi part of me just wants everyone to get along immediately and be a big happy family!! That's not how it works though, there's gonna be issues with each other at first. Let's hope Sam can survive it all! How did you like how I portrayed their personalities? I want to do all of the boys justice, and I hope to get better as the story progresses. Please let me know if you have any constructive criticism to give me! It's the only way I can get better :)
> 
> (Please remember to be kind though!)

**Author's Note:**

> Ohhh boy, here we go! >:3


End file.
